CRAIG PHILLIPS
BIG BROTHER’S FIRST WINNER CRAIG PHILLIPS AND WIFE LAURA EXCLUSIVELY REVEAL THEY ARE EXPECTING A BABY BOY TOGETHER, AND CRAIG TELLS OK!’S JOSIE COPSON HOW THE SHOW HAS SHAPED HIS LIFE
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Big Brother first hit our screens and builder Craig Phillips emerged as the first winner. The 48-year-old is now happily married to his wife of two years Laura,
33. After welcoming daughter Nelly in
2019, the couple exclusively reveal to
OK! that they are expecting a baby boy this December.
“I’m the last living male Phillips in my family, and I wanted to have a boy to carry on the name!” Craig tells us.
Back in 2000, no one could have predicted how successful Big Brother would become. At the time, Craig’s eye was on the £70,000 one-off prize which he used to fund a heart and lung transplant for his friend Joanne Harris, who had Down’s Syndrome and tragically passed away in 2008.
His charming character meant he was also able to achieve success on other shows, including 60 Minute Makeover. And after investing most of his earnings in property, Craig and Laura are now living a very comfortable life in a beautiful eight-bedroom home on the outskirts of Liverpool that he built himself, and which includes a bar, gym and studio. The couple also film social media videos together under the names Mr and Mrs DIY and are hoping to get their own TV pilot commissioned.
Craig’s most famous scene on
Big Brother came when he calmly confronted Nick Bateman (who was known as Nasty Nick) after discovering he was trying to influence other housemates’ eviction nominations by covertly showing them names he’d written on paper.
The nation recently got to relive these iconic moments as part of E4’s Big Brother: Best Episodes Ever, but Craig reveals this was the first time he watched the confrontation unfold.
Here, the star and his wife open up about expanding their brood, their love story and what they really think about “Nasty Nick” 20 years later...
Congratulations on expecting your second baby! How are you feeling? Craig: I was a little surprised... I thought you had to have sex to get pregnant [both laugh].
Laura: I’m just so tired, and this time I also have a toddler to look after which makes it harder. It’s very strange having to go to appointments without Craig and Nelly because of coronavirus. I’m usually constantly out and about doing things, so in a way it’s been positive as it’s forced me to relax.
Are you happy to be having a boy? Craig: I was leaning towards wanting a boy, although I would’ve been happy either way. I’m the last living male Phillips in my family, and I wanted to have a boy to carry on the name. Laura: It’s nice that we are going to have one of each. Our family feels complete.
How do you think you’ll cope with having two young children? Laura: It’s going to be challenging, but ultimately we don’t have a choice so we’ll just get on with it. They’re going to have a really nice age gap.
Craig: Nelly is a very sociable and active baby, so we’ll have our hands full.
Craig, how did you feel watching your iconic Big Brother episode recently?
It was a weird sensation as it’s the first time I’ve ever watched a full episode. I didn’t enjoy watching myself, but I can see how the public got hooked. For the first 12 months after coming out of the house, I rented a room off Nick [Bateman]. Laura and I even went for dinner with him the day after we got engaged in 2017. We invited him to our wedding the following year, but he didn’t come. I’ve defended him for 20 years telling people he wasn’t that bad, but I was shocked at what a consistent liar he was on the show. We were good friends until that episode aired recently [laughs]. Apart from Nick, I have kept in touch with Melanie [Hill] and Anna [Nolan], but I don’t see them very often.
What was life like when you first left the house?
The minute the cameras stopped rolling on the final night, I was rushed away by eight bodyguards into a vehicle with a police convoy. We were driving at high speeds on blocked off roads to a hotel suite. I felt like I was being kidnapped. Big Brother’s psychoanalyser was waiting for me and he said, “Sorry about all this, but we just wanted to let you know how much your life is going to change.” Half of me wanted to be excited, but I also didn’t want to be famous. I had no idea that the show was going to blow up in this way, but I made the best of it. I got the law changed so children with Down’s Syndrome would have their heart and lung transplant operations funded by
‘i was rushed away – i felt like i was being kidnapped!’
the NHS after writing a letter to parliament. It took me nine days, and before that we’d been fighting for 14 years and got nowhere. I was sat next to Tony and Cherie Blair at a dinner years later and asked them why they changed their mind on the law so quickly. Cherie said to me, “Craig, you didn’t know how powerful you were. You had more votes to win over the course of the series than in the last general election.”
Lockdown reminds me of being in the Big Brother house, but I have better company and surroundings this time. The episode that aired recently reminded me how dull, boring and dirty the house was. Everyone slept a lot as there was nothing else to do! I’m a snob when it comes to mattresses, and the ones in the house were terrible. Actually when I came out the house, I had a very expensive fee to endorse a mattress company. I turned that one down as I was so busy – I didn’t go home for 97 days after winning!
How did you feel when you received big money offers?
It was overwhelming. I found it hard to believe someone wanted to pay me that much just to turn up somewhere. I can see how people now leave shows like Love Island and then find it difficult when things die out. I made a point of ringing every Big Brother winner for 10 years to give them some advice.
How sensible were you with the money?
I never partied too much or splashed out on cars, I invested in property. I owned a building company before Big Brother, which had an annual turnover of £1 million. The money was peanuts compared to what I got after Big Brother, but it helped me have a good relationship with money. Barbara Windsor came into my dressing room at an awards show once and said, “TV is a fantastic industry to be in when you don’t actually need it.” I’ve always kept those words in my mind. Whenever I had time I’d buy a cheap house at an auction and get my tools out. Now I have 22 houses, 17 apartments and over 50 tenants.
Laura, had you watched Craig’s series before?
Yes but I was 15 when it aired! My mum wasn’t a fan so we’d wait until she’d gone to bed to watch it. It was a very different experience watching it this time around as I’m now married to the winner. We were cringing at his fashion.
Craig: I have a Google alert set up for my name, and there was an article about my bulge in my tight shorts. In 2002, a newspaper published a naked picture of me with a petrol pump over my bits. The headline was, “Britain may be short of fuel, but Craig certainly isn’t.”
Laura: I’m surprised you don’t have it framed [laughs].
How did you both meet? Laura: In the green room at a TV studio as we were both appearing on a shopping channel. I remember that he offered me some chicken that he’d bought from Sainsbury’s. Because he was in the public eye, I thought he might have had an ego, so I had my guard up but he won me over.
Craig: We got chatting for hours and hours, and then ended up talking on social media afterwards. We never had an official date. We went to mine and we haven’t been apart since.
Laura: Within a week, he told me he was going to marry me. We met in 2016, he proposed on Sydney Harbour Bridge a year later and then we got married in 2018 at Peckforton Castle.
What are you both working on? Craig: I have a Youtube channel with Laura and we build things together. It was Laura’s idea to do Mr and Mrs DIY and she’s a much better presenter than me! We’ve been working on a pilot to pitch to TV shows. Hopefully we can continue to film in our own studio as I don’t miss travelling up and down the country and staying in a different hotel every night. That’s not for me any more now that I’m a family man.
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